Shailesh Vara

Shailesh Lakhman Vara (born 4 September 1960) is a Ugandan-British Conservative former politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Cambridgeshire from 2005 until 2024. He also served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July to September 2022.

In 2006 he was appointed to the shadow ministerial post of Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons by David Cameron. Vara served in the Cameron government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts and Legal Aid from 2013 to 2016 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2015 to 2016. He returned to the backbenches in July 2016, having been removed from his positions by the new Prime Minister Theresa May. In the January 2018 reshuffle, he re-entered government as Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), serving under Karen Bradley. In November 2018, Vara resigned from this role in opposition to May's draft Brexit withdrawal agreement. During the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis, Vara was appointed by Boris Johnson as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland but was dismissed by Liz Truss on 6 September 2022.

Early life and career
Shailesh Vara was born on 4 September 1960 in Uganda to Gujarati Indian immigrants. He moved to Britain with his family in 1964 and had a Hindu upbringing. Vara went to Aylesbury Grammar School, before studying law at Brunel University, where he qualified as a solicitor.

He worked in the City of London and West End of London, as well as in Hong Kong from 1989-1990. Vara has been a senior legal adviser and business consultant for London First, and is vice-president of the Small Business Bureau.

Political career
Vara has been involved with the Conservative Party since the late 1980s and has held various posts at local, regional and national levels. He served as a Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2001 to 2005. In this position, he had a broad range of responsibilities, including advising Michael Howard, deputising for the Party chairman, party spokesman with the media and looking after Conservative Future (which comprises the 10,000 or so people in the party under 30).

At the 1997 general election, Vara stood in Birmingham Ladywood, coming second with 13.3% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Clare Short.

At the Conservative Party Conference in 2000, he was awarded the accolade of official "rising star" of the Party, with Lord Alexander of Weedon describing him as a "future Conservative Party leader".

Vara stood in Northampton South in the 2001 general election, coming second with 41.1% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Tony Clarke.

Parliamentary career
At the 2005 general election, Vara was elected to Parliament as MP for North West Cambridgeshire with 45.8% of the vote and a majority of 9,833.

The Breast Cancer Bill was Vara's chosen issue after he was one of 20 MPs who were selected at random to introduce a private member's bill to the House of Commons in 2006. He has campaigned to broaden the age of routine breast cancer screening for women from the present 50–70 age group to 45–75 years. The proposal was not supported by the government, which Vara claimed effectively blocked its progress by talking through to the end of the debate.

Vara has given his backing to Breast Cancer Campaign's (BCC) award-winning national "wear it pink" day, and showed his support for breast cancer charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer at a meeting in the House of Commons.

At the 2010 general election, Vara was re-elected as MP for North West Cambridgeshire with an increased vote share of 50.5% and an increased majority of 16,677. He was again re-elected at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 52.5% and an increased majority of 19,795.

Vara was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 Brexit referendum in June 2016.

At the snap 2017 general election, Vara was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 58.6% and a decreased majority of 18,008.

Early on 15 November 2018, Vara announced his resignation as a Northern Ireland Minister on Twitter, posting his letter of resignation. His resignation followed the previous day's marathon-length cabinet meeting to discuss the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement.

In the 2019 Conservative leadership election, he initially backed the ultimately unsuccessful candidacy of Dominic Raab.

At the 2019 general election, Vara was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 62.5% and an increased majority of 25,983.

On 7 July 2022, Vara was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, replacing Brandon Lewis. He was sworn as a member of the Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council on 8 July, entitling him to the style "The Right Honourable" for life. He was dismissed by Liz Truss on 6 September.

Personal life
Vara has a black belt in taekwondo; he is married with two children.